...It is good, by the way, it really is! You can have a sit down and pretend to be all posh. Obviously if you genuinely WERE posh you wouldn't be traveling by train - you would be in a car with a chauffeur. Anyway, they do actually sell drinks other than champagne, they don't crank up the price THAT much and service is quite efficient.

The only thing you need to worry about is if you see your train driver sat next to you downing a bottle...

That being said it is a comfy pub with benches and big tables. If you have to eat there, the nachos are the best bet.

In fact, the Phoenix is none of these things. It’s welcoming, the prices are reasonable (for W1) and the clientele represents a broad spectrum: office workers, tourists, Oxford Street shoppers and the assistants who serve them.

On my visit there was a choice of three hand-pulled ales, the usual lagers plus an unfamiliar one that my colleague told me was ‘to die for’. Can’t remember its name. Black, stein-like font. Sorry.

The food started from about £4.50 for fish fingers in a flour bap with lime mayo and progressed up to around £10-£12, although I rarely look at that end of the menu when I’m in a pub. There’s a nice mix-match of seating so you could get quite comfy, although don’t take the newspaper or a book because the lighting doesn’t seem to have changed since Edwardian days.

The one downside (assuming the low-key lighting doesn’t matter to you) is that the service can be quite slow (due to lack of staff rather than lazy staff). This won’t matter too much during a leisurely Wednesday lunchtime but it’s a right pain come Friday nights when the place suddenly gets rammed thanks to the DJs playing in the large basement. Expect a long wait at the bar.

On Monday nights there’s comedy – at the amusingly named Old Rope club – and for one moment I thought the chalkboard showed the previous week’s act as being Peter Kay. Then my eyes adjusted to the gloom and I saw that it was one Paul Kay. Neither have I.

To find the Phoenix, just head north up Regent Street from Oxford Circus, take the first left, then a right and it’s virtually dead ahead.

My only gripes were that the toilets were miniscule, and I heard some minor complaints that for the prices (which are steep, it must be said), there wasn't a great deal of alcohol in the cocktails. Having said that, the house wine I ended up drinking was very good, very reasonably priced per bottle, and left me feeling clear-headed the next day. The table service was a nice touch- no need to wait at the long bar, unless of course you're there to see and be seen...something I imagine could be carried out very successfully here.

My only gripes were that the toilets were miniscule, and I heard some minor complaints that for the prices (which are steep, it must be said), there wasn't a great deal of alcohol in the cocktails. Having said that, the house wine I ended up drinking was very good, very reasonably priced per bottle, and left me feeling clear-headed the next day. The table service was a nice touch- no need to wait at the long bar, unless of course you're there to see and be seen...something I imagine could be carried out very successfully here.